Maybe its just me, but its always sad when I find a dead marine bird, shark or something on the beach. I went for a walk along the Sacramento Trail at Schoenmakerskop and spotted this departed Cape Gannet from some distance away already. The rest of my group walked by without even a glance while I felt I just had to stop to reflect on its former beauty (and of cause snap a picture). Bird Island (part of the Greater Addo Elephant…
Today is International Penguin Day and in celebration thereof I'm posting a pic of Drama Princess interacting with one of the African Penguin at SAMREC in Cape Recife.
On Saturday I took Chaos Boy and 15, yes 15 of his friends to SAMREC for his 11th birthday party. Eddie from SAMREC showed them around the centre and told them all about penguins, the ocean and why conservation is so important. Here they're learning more about the birds in the penguin pool. Thank goodness we got through the tour with nothing broken cause with this lot anything was possible.
"A birthday party with 20 kids! Are you mad?" Just one of the comments I got when I told people that Chaos Boy has invited 20 kids to his birthday party this past weekend. "What are you going to do with them? They'll wreck your house!" Another couple of comments. Well, I asked Chaos Boy what he wanted to do for his birthday party and he decided that he wanted to take his friends to go and see the penguins…
I'm usually behind the camera taking pictures for my blogs or occasionally assisting visiting television crews with info about the city, but on Pasella's last visit I actually got to be in front of the camera as well. Here the crew is filming the presenter asking questions at the Cape Recife Lighthouse before I got my turn to tell them more about the history of the lighthouse and surrounding area.
Late last year the crew from SABC 2 magazine programme Pasella was in town to shoot a couple of inserts. The one day was spent in the Cape Recife Nature Reserve where I was one of two guides taking them around showing off the coastline, history and plants in the reserve. One of the stops was at the South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (SAMREC) where they were told more about the work the centre does with African Penguins. …
The Cape Recife Lighthouse looking spickerish with its new coat of paint. The 24 metres high octagonal masonry tower was built in 1851 to warn mariners of this treacherous piece of coastline west of Port Elizabeth. The light can bee seen from 29 miles away making sure that ships steer clear of the dangerous Thunderbolt Reef.
The view from the top of the Fortress Observation Post (FOP) in Cape Recife looking west. The Cape Recife FOP was one of three built at the start of the Second World War as part of the Port Elizabeth harbour defences and acted as lookouts for enemy boats, subs and planes.
Could it be that there are sea monsters in the ocean around Port Elizabeth? Spotted this creature moving about in the waves just off Cape Recife. Immediately grabbed my camera and ... It didn't move off. Stayed in the same spot in the waves. Mmmmm, disappointment. Its only the remains of a shipwreck visible at low tide.
Port Elizabeth has arguably the most complete collection of surviving coast artillery buildings and equipment dating from the Second World War (1939-45) of any port in South Africa. Before the Second World War the Port Elizabeth Harbour actually had no defence in place except for Fort Frederick which was built in 1799 to guard the original landing place in the early days long before a harbour was even built. In 1942 it was decided to put harbour defences in place…